Published Sept. 13, 2018 at 04:57PM / Updated September 13, 2018 at 10:10PM

Terrebonne women plead no contest to neglecting horses

Sheriff plans adoption event for 65 rescued horses

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In this March 26 photo, a horse lies in a barn stall while awaiting care from a farrier at the Deschutes County animal rescue ranch in Bend. The horse was one of 83 horses Deschutes County sheriff's deputies seized from a Terrebonne property. (Andy Tullis/Bulletin file photo) - Bulletin

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In this March 26 photo, a horse lies in a barn stall while awaiting care from a farrier at the Deschutes County animal rescue ranch in Bend. The horse was one of 83 horses Deschutes County sheriff's deputies seized from a Terrebonne property. (Andy Tullis/Bulletin file photo)7806622

Two women accused of failing to care for more than 80 horses on a Terrebonne ranch pleaded no contest to 10 counts of animal neglect Thursday.

Terrebonne residents Linda Stream, 67, and her daughter Christina Hart, 42, appeared Thursday before Deschutes County Circuit Judge A. Michael Adler and entered pleas to 10 charges of animal neglect in the second degree after being indicted on 83 charges. The pair will attend a sentencing hearing Oct. 30, according to court documents.

In March, a concerned resident tipped off the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office about possible mistreatment of horses at GreenGate Farms, located at 4710 NE Smith Rock Way in Terrebonne, after noticing a horse with a growth on its face, said sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. William Bailey.

A welfare check later that day revealed signs of obvious neglect among the 83 horses at the farm, including serious hoof overgrowth and tooth disease. Horses need their hooves trimmed every six to eight weeks, as walking with overgrown hooves stresses the horse’s tendons, ligaments and leg muscles, according to The Bulletin’s archives.

Stream and Hart were cited April 4 and indicted on 83 counts of second-degree animal neglect later that month.

Bailey said the condition of the horses, mostly Arabians, varied depending on where the horses were kept. Bailey said horses that were kept in stalls had no ability to wear down their hooves naturally, and many appeared to be in severe pain, with some reluctant to walk. Two of the horses were euthanized at the farm, and the rest were relocated. Another 16 horses have been euthanized since March, Bailey said.

The remaining 65 horses are living on the sheriff’s office’s rescue ranch, a 23-acre parcel across from Knott Landfill, just outside the Bend city limits, Bailey said. The sheriff’s office is planning to put the horses up for adoption within the next few weeks and will conduct routine checkups once the horses find new owners.

“We’re hoping to get most of them into homes by winter,” Bailey said.

Bailey said the community has donated more than 80 tons of hay, along with grain and other resources to help the sheriff’s office care for the horses.

“We’ve had tremendous support from the community, and we’re incredibly grateful,” Bailey said.